posted
...by next Wednesday (for a creative writing class). Thing is, I have no idea what format I'm supposed to use. I look up screenplays on GOOGLE, but all I find are a bunch of articles on the format for film screenplays. But in class, we've been focusing on theater screenplays.
Do film and theater screenplays follow the same format? Is there anything else I need to know?
At the moment, I'm just swamped.
Posts: 292 | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
How can you have a theatre screenplay. Do you mean a stageplay? aka "a script"? Or is there some middle ground?
In my experience, the format for plays is FAR less strict than it is for screenplays for the screen, i.e. a film script. My software (hee hee) formats stage plays with the characters name indented to the centre (although not centered), dialogue to the right, and directions aligned with the characters name (indented the same amount.)
Picking up a printed play-in-a-book, I'm seeing it done like this:
Peter (agitated): Have you seen my glasses?
(this is slightly indented)He is looking everwhere for them.
John: No.
I would just copy from one of the "screenplays for the stage" that you've been studying...
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
As far as I know, the format for theater scripts is the same as TV scripts or screenplays. I agree with Teshi though, I think they aren't as strict and picky for those as the movie people are. If you want, I can pass you on a macro thing that does screenplay-style formatting in Word. It's what I use when I can't use Final Draft Pro (the big fancy screenplay software).
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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Yeah, I have Final Draft Pro on my PC. In the event of a crash though (like what happened last weekend), I have to rely on this Word macro though. It's not nearly as good as Final Draft Pro, but it gets the job done in a rough sort of way (which is what it seems 777 might need).
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Sorry, Teshi, I hadn't realized how stupid that question sounded until you mentioned.
Yeah, I probably meant script. My teacher gave each of us a short segment of Lolita to look at, but told us to look online for the "official" formatting. So I meant whatever script/screenplay/whatever is used for stage theater.
I guess I'll have to go with the Word Macro. My dad (owner of this computer) has a taboo against downloaded software.
Posts: 292 | Registered: Jun 2006
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The macro I use is from this site. It's shareware, but it allows you to do the format and print without registering. If you use it and like it, pay the small amount (via PayPal) to the developer. Enjoy.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Lolita is a play? And as far as I know, there is no "official" formatting for plays intended for the stage. There are certain things that are expected, but compared to screenplays, it's fairly lax.
Are you sure you're talking plays?
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
Pretty sure. A professional actor came to our class to give us a short lecture on the idea of stage acting compared to novels. It was a pretty dramatic shift from what we have been doing all semester (poetry), but we knew it was coming. As far as I can tell, we're talking about plays.
I've done a little research into this. Maybe the sample that I recieved (and have somehow misplaced) was the actual screenplay, with the actual film having cut out most of the beginning. Maybe Kubrick didn't like the screenplay, and changed it as he saw fit. All I know is that I'm supposed to find the official screenplay format, which is why I'm a little confused.
Posts: 292 | Registered: Jun 2006
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